Transforming Student Health Through Virtual Care

Greg

Start the podcast. Yeah. Thank you so much.

So here we go. Welcome to the Digital Health Transformers podcast series. In this podcast, we explore the dynamic world of healthcare innovation one conversation at a time.

I’m your host, Greg. And today we have a special guest who is transforming the future of student health and virtual care. We’re thrilled to welcome Luke Hale, CEO and co-founder of Timely Care to today’s podcast.

Luke is a visionary leader working at the intersection of higher education, healthcare and technology. He’s driven by a mission to improve student health and wellbeing, helping fuels, helping fuel student success. Sorry about that.

Under Luke’s leadership, Timely Care has become the trusted virtual health and wellbeing provider for millions of students across 400 plus campuses. Wow. The company has raised over $65 million in funding and earned top recognition, including being named best virtual care platform by MedTech Breakthrough and a top healthcare employer by Ford’s.

That’s very impressive. Join us as we discuss how virtual mental health services and telehealth solutions are shaping the future of student wellbeing. So thank you for joining us today.

Luke, how are you doing?

Luke

I’m good. First of all, thanks for having me today, Greg. I’m delighted to be here.

Yeah. Thanks for introducing the company, Timely Care. We’re the leading telehealth company, really specializing in higher education.

Our mission is to foster student success and improve the wellbeing of campuses. And so what we do is we build telehealth programs with higher education institutions to help students, faculty and staff, both on and off campus. And this is my third startup to lead.

So I’m still having a lot of fun leading this company and chasing our mission every day.

Greg

Awesome. Congratulations on your third. And it seems like, is this your most successful startup today?

Luke

Yeah, for sure it is.

Greg

Awesome. And it certainly looks that way. So, Luke, obviously, from what you just said there, you’ve built Timely Care from the ground up into a leading name in student virtual care.

Can you tell us about the personal experiences or challenges that led you to focus on transforming student health?

Luke

Sure. I guess first I would say, personally, like any human, I’ve had my share of life experiences, grief, anxiety, relationship stuff that I’ve dealt with. One specific thing in my life that was challenging in high school, I lost my best friend.

I had friends and family, you know, surrounded me and loved me and supported me, but I definitely needed more. And so I would say that’s one thing that kind of, I didn’t even discover that until years into building this business. That’s part of what is driving me.

I would say, you know, also as a parent, I’ve got three kids. I see what young people are facing these days. One of my kids is in college, right?

And so I see him and his friends and what they’re facing every day, their busy schedules, the academic performance, sports, family pressures, all of those things.

Greg

Social pressures.

Luke

Social pressures. Yeah. They just have a lot coming at them.

And so, you know, our mission is never lost on me and the entire team building this business and what we’re doing and how we’re chasing our mission to help these students every day. So what we found, what we decided to build, I guess the reason to build it was that quick access to quality care for students was necessary. There were a lot of barriers, especially on college campuses, wait times.

Insurance is confusing for students many times. Scheduling, many times transportation is an issue for a lot of the students that we’re serving and we’re solving for all of those things. We found that many times a student couldn’t get into a counseling center for four to six weeks.

And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the impact academically, socially or otherwise to that student. And so that’s why we started the business. And, you know, I’m sad to say that many schools across the nation still have four to six week waits to talk to a counselor, but many institutions across the campus have also solved it by partnering with companies like timely care to solve that and get the students in quickly.

Greg

I have a daughter in college right now. Actually, she’s graduating this year. So, and she has cousins a little bit older than her that recently graduated and they had these challenges.

So I definitely understand what you’re saying and everybody thinks it’s easy. Hey, they’re going to college, the college is there to support them, but it’s not as easy as it may seem sometimes. So, yeah, you’re absolutely right.

And so I get, I understand the vision behind timely care, you know, and why you started it. How has that vision evolved for you and the company over the years?

Luke

Yeah. So I guess one thing to acknowledge too, I started the company, I have two co-founders, Alan Dennington and Chris Clark. The three of us, we all actually went, did our undergrad work together at Abilene Christian.

And ACU was our first customer. All of our initial seed funding came from ACU alum. And so it’s a big part of our story.

They’re still a fantastic customer and champion of ours. But we saw meaningful progress with the business for several years after we founded it in 2017 and partnered with quite a few schools across the nation, but then COVID happened and it changed the world. And the need for access overnight went from, the conversation quickly went from, you know, what is telehealth?

Is this a good, you know, is this a meaningful way to deliver care to our students? To how quickly can you launch a program? And so at that point we were well positioned, had just raised our series A and really had an opportunity to move quickly and partner with just lots of great institutions very quickly on that list in that time include, you know, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Emory, Duke, you know, and the list goes on, right?

Georgetown. And all of those schools are still really great customers of ours, right? And at this point we’re serving also over 20% of all of the community college students in the United States have access to timely care.

And that number is rapidly increasing as the days go on. And, and, you know, we’re just, it’s been, it’s been a great honor to be able to build, build this business and meet the different levels of student needs as they have them.

Greg

That’s awesome. That’s amazing. I mean, especially the timing aspect because, you know, it’s so needed, but you guys were really right there at the right time.

And wow, I’m really happy for you and everybody that was able to take advantage of your platform. Let’s talk a little bit about mental health and the modern students. So mental health obviously has become one of the most critical issues on college campuses today.

As you know, we’re saying right now, what trends are you seeing when it comes to the mental health needs of students?

Luke

Well, a couple of things come to mind. Number one is students are more open to discussing mental health. I think this has been the case for a number of years.

Certainly COVID, you know, was a time where students started talking about that. And the, you know, the loneliness epidemic that really, you know, became apparent during that time has really allowed students to be a little bit more open about not only talking about their mental health, but how they are working to resolve that, right. Whether it’s talking to a provider, whether it’s, you know, leveraging things like our peer community, where you can anonymously talk to someone, doing meditation, yoga, like all of these things are tools that students use to support their mental health.

And they’re talking about it and they’re helping each other by pointing each other in the right direction. So that’s really great. I guess another thing that’s really changed is that the expectation of the students has changed.

Just like we expect to be able to order food or groceries and have it, you know, on our doorstep in 30 minutes, students expect to be able to access health care and mental health care immediately, right. And so that’s what we do. We do that 24 7 and we’ve got providers available to speak to them around the clock.

And I guess, you know, the outcome of that is really great. Having these resources early and often for students is helping them stay in class and stay on track to graduate and retain. And so we’re really proud of those outcomes that we’re really delivering for the students, for the institution, for the parents and faculty and staff.

You know, everyone wins.

Greg

Absolutely. I mean, there are so many, everybody can tell you a story about someone they know, you know, that has a child that had to take a gap year. And we know what that’s about.

And obviously that costs everybody and could even affect even more that student. So that’s huge. So, you know, have you guys have to, has Timely Care have had to adapt its, you know, mental health services to address these changes?

Or were you guys kind of just right in the right place at the right time, as you were saying before?

Luke

Yeah, I think any good innovative company is, you know, should be required to adapt. And certainly we have adapted based on the needs of our students and the needs of our customers, our buyers, the higher education institution. But we really put the student at the center of that, making sure that we innovate in a way to meet their needs.

So over the years, we have identified that we really need to develop multiple on-ramps for students. So I mentioned several of these already in our discussion today. We have digital self-care.

So think of, oh, relationships, grief, eating habits, sleeping habits, all of these kinds of things, right? So there’s self-care journeys where you can watch videos, read written content and learn about this on your own and really have that self-help tool. Many of our mental health providers use these as kind of homework to give the students that they’re working with.

We’ve also got our peer community. So this is an area where you can anonymously go and post something and talk with the 3 million other students that have access to our platform. And it’s really neat to see the way that students are supporting each other and helping each other.

Everything from international students who are feeling lonely to LGBTQ students who are looking for resources or someone who is like them to communicate with, to students of faith that are working to identify other people to relate with as well. So it’s really great to be the students help each other and walk through relationship issues and all that kind of stuff in the peer community. We also have talk now.

So that’s immediate emotional support. So just think about just any reason that you might want to talk to someone, you can be talking to someone within minutes. And that’s a really important service that we deliver 24-7 to all the students that we serve.

We’ve got health coaching, scheduled counseling with a mental health provider, psychiatry as well. So our service lines have continued to grow and I think you’ll continue to see that innovation as we continue to trail blaze forward. I guess other areas too, I guess that we’ve innovated, we also are now serving faculty and staff for the institutions that we serve.

And we’ve also established most recently success coaching. And this is really our commitment to holistic support for students. And the success coaches help students with things like career readiness, academic preparedness, financial wellness, and so much more.

So again, there’s so much that we’ve continued to adapt and meet the needs of students in the market and really, really excited about the outcomes that we’re achieving.

Greg

And I think you’ve answered my next question, but I’ll ask it anyway, because that was such a robust answer. I was going to say, what makes virtual care, particularly for mental health, such a powerful tool for students? And how does it improve access and reduce barriers like stigma or the long wait times?

But if you’d like to address that, I’d be happy to hear it as well.

Luke

Yeah, sure. I guess students, the thing that comes to mind is students can get care on their terms wherever and whenever they need it. And that’s important to students today.

Another thing that is really important to us as we build and certainly to the students that we serve is that they can navigate to a provider that they can relate with. So many times that’s someone who looks like them or has a similar faith background or is part of a similar LGBT community. There’s a lot of different reasons why a student might navigate to a person that they relate with better.

There’s all kinds of studies to show that that match is important. And so we have multiple ways to get that student to the right provider. And that’s delivering, again, really great outcomes.

And additionally, students just don’t have to wait. They can talk to a provider in under five minutes, get to on the mental health side. Medical, I think, is under seven minutes right now.

And we have a commitment to get students to a scheduled visit, be it counseling or psychiatry, within 24 hours.

Greg

That’s awesome. So can you walk us through the timely care experience for a student in need? What does that journey look like from the moment they seek help?

Luke

Yeah, it’s very easy. So they open up their phone, go to the app, and they log in. They also can do it on a laptop.

Most of our campus communities are using SSO, so they’re already logged in through their system on campus. It’s very easy to get in. They select the provider they want.

Well, first, they select the type of care that they want, whether it’s self-care or they want to actually talk with a provider. And then they can choose their provider, as I was just talking about, making sure that they find someone that’s a good fit for them who is licensed in the state where they currently are. And then they select whether they want immediate support or if they want to schedule something.

And then they can pick whether they want a video call or a phone call, and in some instances, chat with the provider as well. And again, yeah, then they pick the provider of their choice. And it’s as simple as that.

So students, it’s very easy for them to navigate to a provider.

Greg

It absolutely sounds so. Wow, that’s super awesome. Next, timely care operates at the intersection of health care.

How is technology enabling better support systems for students, whether through telehealth, mental health apps, or data-driven insights?

Luke

Well, telehealth is getting health care into the hands of struggling students faster, and again, in a format that’s really comfortable with them. So, you know, students grew up with the phone in their pocket, and so it’s just a very simple way for them to access someone who can immediate, you know, help them immediately. And so that’s really important.

You know, another thing that we’ve really been looking at is making sure, again, these additional on-ramps to care, making sure that there are digital solutions for students that maybe aren’t ready to talk with a provider, but are ready to do some self-exploration or some self-care. You know, we’ve got multiple on-ramps and opportunities for that as well. And…

Greg

No, I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Luke

Go ahead. Yeah, that’s it.

Greg

No, I was going to say, and you know, it’s also very natural to them as well. I mean, this whole entirety of your platform for especially students today, it’s just natural. They grew up in this generation, and it just makes sense, you know, more so than going into a doctor, it would seem, and seeing someone in person.

Luke

Indeed. Yeah.

Greg

And sorry about that interruption, but Luke, how do you ensure that the technology remains easy to use and human-centered, especially for students seeking mental health support?

Luke

Well, there’s a number of ways. We talk to our students, so we do user groups, and we allow them to provide feedback after they receive the care as well. So we’re looking for any and every way to get feedback from students on the care that they receive, the technology that they’re using.

We also ask them what problems we can solve for them or ways that we can support them. We have teams on campuses almost every day. We’ve got people on campuses across the nation just talking to students and gathering some of this feedback.

And so we take all that feedback and we transform our technology, we transform our care modalities, the way that we deliver care in response to all this feedback that we receive. Of course, we’re also talking to administrators on campus as well to understand what are their needs. Sometimes that is related to care delivery.

Sometimes that’s the way it’s related to sharing records back with the care team on campus or making sure that we have the right reporting so that they can understand exactly what’s going on with the populations that we serve for them. But all of these are ways that we are making sure that we are developing what students need.

Greg

You guys are fully invested, no question. That is awesome. Timely Care is now serving millions of students, as you said, across the country.

What measurable outcomes have you seen, whether it’s student well-being, academic performance, or campus satisfaction that you can speak to?

Luke

Yeah, this is one of my favorite questions to answer because there’s a lot here and we’re definitely the trailblazer in this space as it pertains to outcomes. There’s a number of ways that we’re measuring outcomes. We have a great care transformation team who’s been working for years to ensure that we’re gathering the right data.

And so we’ve got years and years of data to show the success that we’ve made in certain areas that I’ll share with you now. But the first one is that we are showing clinically significant improvement in a student’s mental health, typically within three visits. The reason that’s so significant is because a benchmark is closer to 10 to 12 visits.

And so we’re doing this very quickly. There’s a lot of reasons to the why. The training that we give our providers, the match that we’re doing with the providers, the modality of care, and easy and quick access, all of those things are leading to such a great outcome.

We’ve also found that timely care partner schools retention rates were 1.3% higher than would be expected if they did not have timely care services. So when you look at 1.3, it doesn’t sound like a big number. But if you’re in higher education and you’re looking at the goals that the administration may have on increasing retention, it’s a pretty big number and one that we’re really excited to be a part of with our partner schools for sure.

I guess another outcome to share with you, and this is in a peer-reviewed paper that you can find on our website, but our virtual care model significantly enhances access to mental health care among college students across underserved racial minority and ethnic groups. So essentially what this means is students in these minority and ethnic groups are leveraging timely care services at a higher rate than services available to them on campus, which is an initiative that every campus has underway, trying to ensure that all of their students, particularly the underserved students, have access and are leveraging services. So we’re really proud of that.

That’s amazing. Yeah. And then I guess from a quality perspective too, our average provider rating is 4.96 out of 5. And 8 out of 10 students say that they’re more likely to remain in class and improve their grades and graduate after using timely care. So lots of data points to suggest or really prove that the care that we’re providing is really helping students and helping institutions. And the cool thing about that is, and I remind our team this all the time, is that when we partner with a school and we’re working with a student for four years or two years or however long that student’s there, we’re not only helping them during that time, but the assistance that we give them through timely care is giving them the tools that they need for the rest of their life.

The impact from that is very significant and something that’s really awesome to think about when your head hits the pillow for sure.

Greg

There’s no question about that. Yeah, I could have said it better myself. Luke, do you have a success story or specific campus experience that stands out to you, one that illustrates the real world impact of timely care beyond what you just kind of explained was something very specific to you?

Luke

Sure. Well, I’ll share a couple. So every other Monday, we have our staff meeting.

We’ve done this for years and it’s really important. An important part of connecting everyone within the company to our mission is to share care stories. And so we always invite the care team to come and share some stories.

And so a couple that come to mind, I’ve just ranges and then maybe one specific that’s pretty significant. There’s a wide range of students with relationship issues, roommate issues. Those are very, very common stories to tell, but the assistance that we provide is deep and meaningful for these students.

Many students we talk to are just overwhelmed and contemplating dropping out of school. This is another regular occurrence that both our mental health providers and our student success coaches support on a regular basis. And so those stories are just always really fun to hear the outcome of that student deciding to continue doing what they’re doing and stay in school.

We have lots of students grieving the loss of a parent. Probably one of the most tough stories for our team to hear. It had a good outcome, but it’s just a significant story.

It’s a student who called in, who was sitting on the train tracks waiting for a train to come to take her out of life. And our team of providers gets calls like this every day. Not always on the train tracks, but sometimes it’s, I just took the pill or I’m holding the knife or standing on the ledge or whatever it may be.

And I’m happy to say the outcome of every single one of those situations has been positive. Had a good outcome due to the great work that our care team does to ensure that we get the right people and services to that student immediately. But those are the ones where I’m just so thankful.

I think everyone involved is just so thankful that we were there for that student in that time. And again, it just points to the great work that the entire team is doing to improve the health and well-being of students.

Greg

I got to say I’ve got goosebumps and I’m going through chills because you’re absolutely right. I’m thinking about the parents on the other side that probably don’t even know that their kid is going through that and you guys are there really creating champions to really get them through these places. And wow, it’s such a simple thing when you think about it, but it’s so important and it’s so complex the way that you guys have to deliver this program to make sure that it’s available to these students that are in a time of need.

I think it’s absolutely amazing. Wow. That’s awesome.

Wow. So Luke, how is Timely Care prepared to meet those future needs and continue innovating?

Luke

Yeah, so innovation is something that is at the core of who we are and what we do. And certainly we continue to see students asking for virtual services and so there’s no indication that’s going to change. But the question is how do we need to continue to innovate to meet the needs of students as the way that they access technology changes.

And so that’s where we’re spending time thinking and talking to students and making sure that we’ve got the right solutions for their health and well-being to ensure their success. And so because technology is changing so fast, our team is just actively leveraging things like AI, both internally for operational efficiencies, but also to transform our product in ways that are going to meet students exactly where they are. And I respect that AI is not a replacement for a human, but there are a lot of things that AI can do to provide a better experience for a student, to ensure that they get to the right person quickly.

And so there’s lots of different ways that we’re already leveraging technology and many more to come. I’m excited about unveiling some new innovations and technologies over the coming months and years. But one thing’s for sure, virtual care will become more personalized and it will, you know, it’s allowing us, technology is allowing us to to provide more tailored health recommendations.

It allows us more proactive interventions, seamless coordination with, you know, the care teams on our end, the care teams on the campuses that we serve, local health care providers, things like that. So it’s just really enhancing how we’re able to serve that student and the speed at which we can do that. And the interesting thing I know that we all know about AI is like, we can’t even imagine what the world’s going to look like a year or years from now.

But what I can tell you is that the timely care team is navigating it quickly to ensure that, you know, we’re meeting the needs of the student, of the populations that we’re serving, of the institutions that we serve rapidly in a way that is also respectful. That again, technology is not a replacement for a human.

Greg

No, and I think you guys definitely underscore that super well, like the human piece is the most important piece and just using technology to support them is the right way to go and timely care is absolutely doing that. So Luke, thank you so much for sharing your journey and the incredible work you and the team at timely care are doing. It’s clear, again, that virtual care is not just filling in gaps, but it’s redefining, in this case, how student health is supported.

So again, I can’t thank you enough. And to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. Stay with us for more stories from the innovators transforming healthcare.

See you next time on digital health transformers. Thanks for having me. Yeah, my pleasure, guys.

Thank you so much. It was really a pleasure. And that was all I, especially as someone who has a kid in college, it was awesome to hear that.

And I love the platform. And I’m really going to be looking to see what you guys are doing, because I wasn’t even aware that this was out here. So I’m super happy to be a part of it today.

Thanks a lot. Well, thank you for the time. My pleasure.

Talk to you later. Thanks, Gina.

Luke

Thank you both. Good work. Bye bye.

Greg

Thanks. Bye guys. Bye.